The Walt Disney Company beat expectations today when it reported an earnings-per-share (EPS) of $.48, representing a 45% increase over 2Q 2009.

Although net income was up across the board, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media shone above other business units with an increase of 20% each over the same time period in 2009. DCP, which yielded $596M for the quarter, had its success tributed to both the Disney/Pixar Toy Story and Marvel properties.

Despite the introduction of the Disney New Generation Festival this year, Euro Disney S.C.A has reported a net loss of approximately $145 million in the first half of the 2010 fiscal year (ending March 31), compared with a net loss of approximately $108 million for the first half of 2009. While individual guest spending did increase, the overall effect was an overall 7% decline in both theme park and hotel revenues with the bulk of that being blamed on a decline of visitors from the United Kingdom.

This past Friday, hundreds of D23 members were joined by Walt Disney Company President and CEO Robert Iger, producer Don Hahn, Roy E. Disney’s son Roy P. Disney and, of course, Mickey Mouse, as they re-dedicated the Walt Disney Animation Studios building in honor of the late Roy E. Disney at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.

What could be more surprising than walking into a room and having Mickey Mouse talk to you? How about the fact that Disney has been sitting on the technology for well over a decade?

There was little surprise yesterday about how quickly the YouTube video of a Talking Mickey character test at Disneyland garnered attention, turning just a few dozen views from when we first reported it to tens of thousands less than a day later, but realizing that there would have to at least be a patent application somewhere before the technology was debuted, we set out to find the source of the marveling magic.

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the brothers who founded Miramax and later sold it to The Walt Disney Company are about to take the reigns once more. At a reported $600 million, the Hollywood power duo will once again oversee the production and distribution company they named after their parents.

The Walt Disney Company announced today it will contribute $150,000 to the China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF) to help rebuild schools devastated by a powerful earthquake in the western Chinese province of Qinghai.

“On behalf of The Walt Disney Company, I extend our deepest condolences to the people of China and hope our contribution can help the children and families affected by this terrible earthquake,” said Robert A. Iger, president and CEO, who announced the donation while visiting Shanghai.

Just how serious is Disney/Marvel about producing an Ant-Man movie? Few in the world are likely to be more interested than the children of comics author Jack Kirby who have named Ant-Man along with Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, The Avengers, Thor, Nick Fury a seemingly endless list of comics titles and specific issues in a lawsuit claiming they are the rightful (co-)owners of these creations.

Filed on March 9 in the US District Court in the Central District of California, the complaint filed by Lisa, Barbara, Neal and Susan Kirby as well as the estate of Kirby’s wife, Rosalind, rebquests a trial by jury, seeking unspecified damages against previous and current earnings on these properties of which Disney/Marvel has current control.

Making a very persuasive argument, particularly if it’s all true, the complaint inks a portrait in which a financially strapped Marvel purchased the comics from freelancer Jack Kirby ad hoc — sans contracts and that Kirby created everything on his own time in his own place of residence with his own tools so that he was at no time able to be considered ‘work for hire’ as Disney/Marvel has contended.

Another day, another series of domain names being registered by Disney.

The domain name that stands out the most is BILLIONDOLLARFRESHMAN.COM which sounds like it could be an upcoming film either for Walt Disney Studios, DreamWorks or Disney Channel. Replace the B with an M and you have what sounds like could have been a Kurt Russell live action comedy from Disney in the 70s.

For its Keychest technology, Disney has also registered KEYCHESTLAB.COM and KEYCHESTLABS.COM. It is speculated that Disney will be licensing the technology, so this will probably be an opportunity to showcase or sell the technology moreso than a consumer destination.

As we reported last November, the UO Duck (then potentially in some hot water) was operating under license by The Walt Disney Company for his one-time likeness to Donald Duck (and initially enacted by Walt Disney himself). As the UO Duck’s look has changed over the years, it’s fair to say that short of being pantless (which has been enough for Disney alone, just ask Marvel’s Howard the Duck), there is little resemblance to Mickey’s #2.

Using a potential combination of RFID and/or ultra-wide band (UWB) technologies, US Patent #,7671,802 provides a method for tracking the on-field locations of athletes and sports equipment (including fast-moving and rapid direction-changing items such as hockey pucks) in real-time.